My appreciation for the work people put into these shows is endless, but I will never understand why people cut up segments like Truckin>Other One with cuts for drums, drums bass especially when each is only 3 minutes. In the grand scheme it is petty to mention, but cuts for drums bass???

As for the show--- Oh man, this is a good one. I feel this is the best sounding version too.

In the top third of the 20 NYE shows. It actually all takes place in '73, which is interesting because it SOUNDS like a '73. There's a big, 2½ hour second set. In typically weird GD fashion, at 3AM they suddenly take off. Unfortunately there were crowd injuries and the city almost shut down Bill Graham and/or Winterland. The show is also known for no Pigpen, and the guy that was found hanging high up under the ceiling, stopping the show.

First Set. Around & Around is uptempo, but that's not advantageous and by Mexicali it's a bit sloppy. Jack Straw & Beat it on Down the Line-10 are good but it's not until the end (a great Tennessee Jed) that things stand out as above average. Playing in the Band has some Donnaskreech™ but is still a way nice, big one and Billy is hot. The official version not only cuts the ending but has a weird tape waver not on this source. Casey Jones is almost a perfect version - though it didn't vary much at the time, Jer finds an approach and check Keith.

Second Set. Jer rushes Promised Land - no solo - to get to a great Half Step, but then he's mixed too low for Big River. The Truckin' jam doesn't go many places but is played well. Post-Drums is where the show really takes off. The Drum & Bass jam has Keith joining in, then Jer, and goes way out there for '72/'73. The Other One makes it over 33min before the lyrics (is that a record?). The Morning Dew isn't the biggest but has great tones. Then the guy stuck way up high, hanging under the ceiling thing happens. Sugar Magnolia is fantastic and sounds like a '74. Sing Me Back Home is a quintessential version - if it has fans, then pretty sure this is better than the E72s. JBG is well-played, with no Donnaskreech™, but the final two are great. Wedged between two rockers, Uncle John's is infected - upbeat and with Billy double-timing. The existing recordings of One More Saturday Night aren't great but Jer is.

1st Set:  C+
2nd Set: B
Overall = 3½ Stars

Highlights:
Playing in the Band - big version
Casey Jones - Jer makes the effort; check Keith
Mississippi Half-Step - about to be a big '73 song
Jam>The Other One - big post-Drums TOO
Sugar Mag - anachronistically like a '74
Sing Me Back - probably as good as it ever got
Uncle John's Band - more of a rock version
One More Saturday Night - wee-hour energy leaving it all on the stage

SOURCES: The Bertha is the most complete source, though the last three songs are pitched slow (JBG & UJB need +1% and 1MSN needs +2%). The wier.6340 has better clarity and is brighter, but also slightly noisier, with less image, pitch discrepancies, and lots of cuts (the unknown.1563 is the same source but out of order). Playing in the Band is a bonus on The Closing of Winterland (albeit with the final half minute inexplicably edited), which also has a hidden cut of Bill Graham talking to the rafter guy.

From Trucking to Dew...possibly one of the most epic, monster, intense, cosmic jams in the history of mankind...no shit.

Note: When it says drums and bass
Translate = Bill and Phil
GRATEFUL DEAD = Taking pressure off
the San Andres fault since 1965.
That is all.

Not the song.....

1/1/73

Where is Bertha?

this was the last addition to my '72 collection and am so glad that i stuck with it. It seemed, to me, that there was a good hour of music where nothing stood out then the boys found 4th gear finally and the last hour is just an unique pleasure. And what time of the morning did it finally end? I am so enjoying this site, its almost as good as having the band around live, Reckoning and Europe '72 were what cemented me into D.H. status and i can't wait to see what '73-74 bring next!

Gotta give it up to Phil and Bill drum and bass jam. Some tasty playing by both of them. Great quality on this one

This is pretty close to the pinnacle of what they were capable of. The Truckin' > Other One > Morning Dew section contains one of the finest examples I've ever heard of creating new musical themes on the spot. I'm talking about the long B-minor jam that follows the drums and bass. The bass solo itself is one of Phil's most inventive. It all culminates in a spectacular Dew. The sound is very nice for a radio tape, a little overly bassy, but overall very clean and missing the typically distorted radio sound.

Excellent show and remastering. A pretty damn hot performance.

I was there. I never thought this was all that good of a show. Maybe because me and about 50 others nearly got our collective breath stampeded out of us, but I have to say that this Bertha makes this sound like I am hearing it for the first time.